VOLUME 3:
the golden age of hip hop
NOW AVAILABLE!

The Mixtape Mission

The Mixtape Literary Journal is a quarterly online publication showcasing poetry, creative nonfiction, scholarly essays, & visual arts that revolve around a central theme: to celebrate the artistic and social contributions that music has had on us through our own written and visual expressions.

Volume 1 - Fall 2021: ¡Tumbao! Louder Than Borders: The Transnational Influence of Latin Music

- Download for Digital Reading - Download for Print - Online Archive

Volume 2 - Winter 2021: Music that Moves You - Download for Digital Reading - Download for Print - Online Archive

Volume 3 - Spring 2022: The Golden Age of Hip-Hop - Download for Digital Reading - Download for Print - Online Archives

Volume 4 - Summer 2022: Protest Anthems/Fight Music - SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN! READ BELOW FOR MORE INFO!

Submit

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN!
Read below for info about our next Volume:
Protest Anthems & Fight Music

Mission statement:

At the forefront of many revolutionary movements, the musicians and bards of their time crafted songs to inspire and activate spirits of those fighting and suffering. They wrote songs to raise awareness and draw attention to cruelties, around the world and at home, overlooked or dismissed by the oppressive powers that be. From South African apartheid to Armenian genocide, the destruction of Indigenous tribes to the freeing of innocent incarcerated individuals, the protest anthems and fight music screams out the mouth of Zach de la Rocha or hums truth to sad tragedies in the delicate voice of Billie Holiday. We carry these songs to the battles and to remember the wars.

For The Mixtape Literary Journal’s fourth issue, we are seeking to publish art and literary work influenced, generally inspired, to, or for songs of revolution, protests, and fight music. We want work by writers and artists that carry the torch forward to better futures, that sing of dignity for the lives of all people. We want work that smashes the oppressive power structures and combats all forms of injustice from the country sides to the streets to the hallow halls of all nations.

The revolution may not be televised but it will be written about. We are looking for all visual artists, academic writers, crafters of creative nonfiction, and poets to join us for the final issue of our four volume Mixtape series.

To the future,

-The Editors of The Mixtape Literary Journal

Submission guidlines

We accept work via the link below in the realms of poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, and visual arts. For the purposes of our submissions, previously published work will be accepted so long as it was not published within the last year and the artist retained the rights to it after its publishing. Work published onto a personal blog or social media account, or in a self-published book does not count as previously published.
For poetry, please send up to 5 poems in a single Word Document or PDF. No line length requirement or restrictions.
For creative nonfiction, submit one story, up to 1,500 word count.
For scholarly essays, submit one article between 5,000-8,000 word count.
For visual arts, submit up to 5 pieces in any medium as a JPG, PNG, or PDF.
Only one submission per category per reading period.
None of the work submitted may contain any copyrighted material. For written submission, song titles are usually ok, but directly quoting song lyrics gets legally complicated. For visual arts, the likeness of the artist is accepted, but it must not be based off of a copyrighted photo.
All submissions are read blind; please do not include any identifying information within your work. There will be a space in the form for you to include your name, contact info, and a brief bio.
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please notify us via email should your work be accepted elsewhere so that we may congratulate you and withdraw it from consideration.
Usually you can expect a response to your submission within 2 weeks, but it may take up to a month. Either way, we are dedicated to providing artists with a fast turnaround on their work.
All work submitted will also be considered for publication in our limited-print-run year-end anthology to be released at the end of June each year.
Any questions? Email themixtape@waosatx.org

Submit Poetry Here • Submit Nonfiction Here • Submit Visual Art Here

Masthead

M.R. "Chibbi" Orduña

Co-Editor in Chief

M.R. “Chibbi” Orduña is a Mexican-born, Texas-raised queer poet and actor, the founder of Laredo BorderSlam, a founding member of Write About Now, Executive Director and co-host of the Words and Sh*t virtual talk show and podcast, and 2-time San Antonio Slam Champion. He has self-published 2 books and was the co-editor of the anthology Contra: Texas Poets Speak Out (Flowersong Press, 2020). He’s toured across the country performing his spoken word set, and his work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Texas Review, The Acentos Review, Defunkt, The Latino Book Review Magazine, The Journal of Latina Critical Feminism, We Are Mitu, George Takei, SlamFind, Poetry Slam Inc, Button Poetry, and Write About Now. You can follow him on IG @gemineyes

C.L. "Rooster" Martinez

Co-Editor in Chief

Christopher "Rooster" Martinez is a writer and spoken word poet from San Antonio, Texas. he earned a MA/MFA from the Creative Writing, Literature and Social Justice program at Our Lady of the Lake University. In 2011, Rooster co-founded the Blah Poetry Spot, a local poetry open mic and community organization. He is a 2-time San Antonio Slam Champion, and part of the team that took 3^rd place at the 2017 National Poetry Slam Group Piece Competition. His work has appeared in such publications as Write About Now Poetry, Button Poetry, The Huffington Post Latino Voices, Pilgrimage Press, and Acentos Review. He has two books, A Saint for Lost Things, from Alabrava Press, and As it is in Heaven, from Kissing Dynamite Poetry Press.

Omer Ahmed

Assistant Editor - Poetry

Omer Ahmed (He/Him) is a Black and Muslim educator, writer, and performer. He is an organizer for Mutual Aid Houston and has works published in issues of The Penn Review, The Sonora Review, The Penn Review, Contra: Texas Anthology and internationally in Bareknuckle Poet amongst other places.

Tamara al-Qaisi-coleman

Assistant Editor - Visual Arts

Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman (she/her) is a bi-racial Muslim writer, historian, poet, and artist. She is a 2021 Desert Nights: Rising Stars Writers Conference Fellow. A 2021 Brooklyn Poets Fellow, a Rad(ical) Poetry Fellow, and a poet for the Houston Grand Opera & MFAH’s event “The Art of Intimacy.” Her work can be found in (Art) WORDPEACE and Mixed Magazine, (Fiction) Crack the Spine Literary Magazine, (Poetry) Boundless 2021: The Anthology of the Rio Grande River Valley International Poetry Festival, and others.

Larissa Hernandez

Assistant Editor - Non-Fiction

Larissa Hernandez is a writer born in Eagle Pass, Texas and raised in southeastern Arizona. Larissa writes creative nonfiction that reflects her experience as a borderlands transplant, a mother, and a classic car enthusiast. Her scholarship includes thirdspace theory and reggaeton as a new discursive space within music. She holds a master’s degree in Literature, Creative Writing, and Social Justice from Our Lady of the Lake University. She has served as a staff editor for Eleven Rivers Review and The Thing Itself. She is currently a creative writing editor at The Journal of Latina Critical Feminism. Larissa currently lives in San Antonio, Texas with her son, dog, and pet rooster.

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VOLUME 3: the golden age of hip hop NOW AVAILABLE!